Posted!

Join the Conversation

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

Lakeland girls soccer team takes a kick at breast cancer

For Sheboygan Press Media
Published 8:02 p.m. CT Oct. 2, 2015

Lakeland soccer players Karen Hjelle, left, and Libby DeClark each found lumps in their breasts that were surgically removed. In both cases the lumps were benign. Now they encourage others to undergo early breast exams.(Photo: Lakeland College photo)

For Libby DeClark and Karen Hjelle, waiting for the biopsy results was the hardest part.

Fortunately, both Lakeland College soccer players are OK. The lumps that were surgically removed from their breasts last spring were benign. But it was an alarming time for both young women.

At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, Lakeland’s women’s soccer team and Prevea Health will honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month when the Muskies host Benedictine University for the “Kicking out Cancer” game. Pink Muskies United T-shirts will be sold for $10 and Prevea will staff an educational booth. Mini-soccer balls and other prizes will be given to fans who visit the booth, and a football autographed by Packers fullback John Kuhn will be raffled off.

All proceeds will be donated to a friend of the program, a woman who is battling Stage 3 breast cancer.

Lakeland head coach Kim Kriese said DeClark and Hjelle were passionate about this fundraiser because they want to raise awareness of this devastating disease.

“I found the lump around Thanksgiving, but didn’t think much of it,” says DeClark, a senior defender from Kingsford, Mich. “But in spring, I started getting random shooting pains. My mom is a nurse, so I finally told her about it. She said, ‘We need to get this checked out.’”

During surgery, an additional lump was found. Together, DeClark says, the two benign growths were the size of a grapefruit. One, she was told, looked suspicious enough that there’s a good chance future lumps may emerge. She will now undergo regular checkups.

Hjelle, a junior midfielder from Malone, discovered a lump on her breast after glancing at an educational pamphlet in the bathroom of Brotz Hall.

“At first I thought, no big deal,” she recalls. “But I finally went to the nurse and had the ultrasound the next day.

“My advice is, if you find something, don’t be afraid to ask somebody about it. For two months after I found the lump, I did nothing. I guess I didn’t want to think it could happen to me.”